Test Flight
by TheUnicornsAreComing
Summary: Hiccup decides to test out his flight new suit. Astrid freaks out when she sees him "falling" off Toothless. Pre-How to Train Your Dragon 2. Hiccstrid.


"Toothless!" Hiccup called. "Come here, bud!"

Toothless nosed his way into the forge. "Hey!" Hiccup laughed, as his dragon tried to squirm under his arm. "Look, I wanted to show you something." He pulled out three pieces of canvas: two long strips and a spiny one that resembled the back spike of a dragon.

"You see, I put this one on my back, and then attach these ones between my sides and my arms-and bam. I'm a dragon."

Toothless made a curious noise in the back of his throat.

"Look," Hiccup pointed to some detailed drawings that were pinned up on the wall. "We get up really high, I jump off-" Toothless looked up with a start. "Hold on, bud. After free falling for a bit, I extend my wings. Eventually we'll get low enough that you'll have to come get me. Which takes me to how you'll fly on your own. I've been working on a way to lock your tail, so you won't be able to do any fancy maneuvers, but it should be enough for you to come get me. So," he finished with a flourish of his hand, looking back towards his audience, "any questions?"

Toothless stared at him for a moment, then tried to squirm his head underneath Hiccup's hand again. Hiccup let out a sigh and let his dragon win, scratching him on the head. "C'mon, bud," Hiccup began attaching his new "wings". "Let's go try it out."

They left the forge and started heading towards the hill, where they could take off without any fuss. They were almost there when they suddenly heard a flapping sound and the screech of a Deadly Nadder.

"Hey, you," said a friendly voice. "Join us for a ride?"

Hiccup turned out to see Astrid hopping off Stormfly. She gave him a swift peck on the cheek. "I was thinking about a little afternoon flight. Big race coming up, gotta work on those dives."

"Yeah, yeah, of course," he said distractedly, rubbing the back of his head with his hand, "I've got...uh, some things I wanna work on too with Toothless."

She grinned at him. "See you up there." Astrid jumped on Stormfly and they took off into the clouds.

Toothless nudged Hiccup with his nose and looked up a his best friend with curious green eyes.

"I know, I know," Hiccup raised his arms in surrender. "I didn't tell her about the flight suit. But to be honest, I'm not sure that she would be thrilled about the idea of me just jumping out into freefall thousands of feet above the ground. I'd rather just deal with an angry Astrid later. Now, before I jump off-yes, Toothless, we are going to try this-I'm gonna lock your tail like this." Hiccup showed his dragon how he was going to lock his tail.

"Alright, bud? Let's go."

Toothless took off and started zooming after Astrid and Stormfly. Once they caught up, they flew in silence for awhile, admiring the view. Berk in the summer was breathtaking.

"Beautiful day," Astrid commented. "Hey, I was thinking about that new species of dragon you found last week. The Frightful Terror. Your drawings of it looked really similar to a Gronckle. You think they could be related.

Hiccup, who was messing around with some of the levers and straps on Toothless's saddle, nodded absentmindedly. "Hmm."

"No, really, think about it. If we could just bring one to Berk, then we could compare closer. Where did you find it again? Hiccup? HICCUP!" Astrid screamed. That was because all of the sudden, Hiccip had slid out of his saddle and was now free falling towards the ocean below. Astrid looked at Toothless in fear. Usually if Hiccup ever fell out of the saddle or had to jump off for some reason, the Night Fury would zoom after him immediately. That might also be because Toothless couldn't fly without Hiccip. But now, the black dragon had twisted in midair, looking at his tail. Astrid stared in confusion. His tail was locked, as if Hiccup was still riding him. HICCUP. Both Astrid and Toothless seemed to realize at the exact same moment where their friend was. Stormfly and Toothless shot down at the exact same time, towards the slim falling figure.

All of the sudden, Hiccup hit a button on his suit and the dragon spike popped out of his back. He extended his arms, and he grinned as he shot up in past Toothless and Stormfly, who were zooming in the opposite direction. He was flying, he was actually flying by himself! Oh, he could practically taste the freedom.

Suddenly something nudged his belly. He looked down to see Toothless flying beneath him, his green eyes worried.

"Oh c'mon bud, I'm fine! And look at you! You're flying too!" Hiccup looked up and saw Astrid and Stormfly above him. He flipped over, gliding on his back, so he could look at Astrid comfortably. She looked caught between excited and angry.

"Hiccup! Oh my gods! You're flying! Like a dragon...do you have any idea how-" She started.

"Hey! What's up with you worrywarts? I'm fine!" He reassured her.

Astrid gave him a look that said: no-you-are-most-definitely-not-fine-you-are-flying-by-yourself-without-Toothless-you-are-so-going-to-pay-for-scaring-me-when-we-land. Then she smiled and shouted over the wind that suddenly picked up, "That's amazing, Hiccup!"

The wind got stronger. Hiccup fought to keep control. Suddenly, a large mountain loomed out of the mist in front of him, directly ahead.

"Toothless!" Hiccup yelled over the wind. "Now!"

Toothless, who had been flying behind, experimenting with his new ability to fly solo, looked up at Hiccup's voice, and saw that he was on a direct collision course with the rocky mountain. The Night Fury tried to catch up to his best friend, but he was unused to his new tail and couldn't fly as well. Toothless let out a screech as he fought to reach Hiccup. Stormfly made a grab for Hiccup, but right when her claws were about to grasp him the winds sent him down. The Deadly Nadder was about to try again when suddenly she looked up and had to swerve to the left to avoid a rock formation. Hiccup looked up and his stomach dropped when he saw how close he was to collision.

"Toothless!" He shouted again.

Toothless let out a screech of frustration. Hiccup suddenly realized what he had to do. The canvas stretched between his arms was what was gliding him forward, closer to the mountain. He dropped his arms to his sides, now free falling down instead of gliding forward. He fell straight down, next to the face of the mountain. Toothless, realizing that Hiccup was now below the winds, went into a deep dive to intercept his best friend before he became a pancake on the lower mountain. Toothless grabbed Hiccup in his claws and enveloped him in his wings, knowing it was too late to stop the inevitable collision with the mountain.

When it came, it was jarring, but not enough for Toothless to lose his grip on Hiccup. He rolled down the mountain, over rocks, snow, and ice, curled up like a ball. The black dragon finally came to a stop the ground evened out and he hit a tree. He uncurled to reveal Hiccup, who groaned and crawled out from underneath his heavy friend, collapsing on his back on the cool grass. Immediately Stormfly swooped in and Astrid jumped off, running towards Hiccup.

"Hiccup!" She said worriedly. Astrid knelt beside him and pulled off his helmet. His green eyes stared up at her. He had a few minor cuts on his face, but mostly the helmet had protected his skull from the fall.

"That was amazing! " He grinned, then grimaced because it hurt to smile.

"You could have just died and the only thing you can say is 'that was amazing'?" Astrid demanded. "Where are you hurt?"

Hiccup groaned and tried to sit up, only to be pushed by down again by his blonde girlfriend. "Sprained ankle, probably cracked a rib or two. But hey, can we try again?"

Astrid's blue eyes flashed. "Nooo, I think you're going to have to heal up and work out some major logistics before you try that again." She knew there was no way that she could stop her boyfriend from doing something once his mind was made up.

"How does that sound, bud?" Hiccup rolled over to look at Toothless, who was cleaning the dirt off himself by the tree. "Wanna go again?" Toothless made a growling sound in the back of his throat. "I'll take that as a yes, then."

Astrid smiled down at him. "Never." She kissed him on the forehead. "Scare me. Kissed him on one cheek. "Like that." Kissed him on the other cheek. "Again." This time she kissed him on the lips, hers soft on his.

Eventually they pulled away, and stared into each other's eyes for a few moments. Then Astrid helped Hiccup up, and supported him as he limped over to Toothless. He scratched his dragon on the head, and Toothless nuzzled his torso.

"I'll see you back in the village, and I'll help you bind up your ankle and your ribs." Astrid walked off towards Stormfly, shaking her head in almost exasperation.

Hiccup waved at her and turned to Toothless. "She didn't take that so badly, did she, bud?"

Hiccup heard a female voice behind him call, "Maybe not, but just wait until your dad asks you about those injuries!"


End file.
